Researchers at IBM are testing software that would let you tote your home or office desktop around on an iPod or similar portable device so that you could run it on any PC.

The virtual computer user environment setup is called SoulPad, and consumers install it from a x86-based home or office PC. SoulPad uses a USB (universal serial bus) or FireWire connection to access the network cards for connecting to the Internet, the computer's display, the keyboard, the main processor and the memory, but not the hard disk.

After the person disconnects the system, SoulPad saves all work to the device, including browser cookies or other digital signatures that a PC keeps in its short-term memory.

The name SoulPad comes from the concept of separating a PC into a body (processor, memory, keyboard, display) and a soul (data, applications, personal settings).

Right now, the product is in the testing phase, but SoulPad contributor Ramon Caceres, a staff member at the Wearable Computing division of IBM Research, said the technology could be licensed to hardware manufacturers that could make them into dedicated devices.

"We had been looking at how people can carry their computing environments around without carrying a laptop," Caceres said. "The SoulPad is particularly good for business travelers that carry work between home and office by carrying a small device instead of a full PC. It's also great because it puts very minimal demands on the PC that you are using at the time."

The idea of booting from portable hard drives is not new, nor is the trend of letting consumers carry their entire desktop, including programs and personal preferences, with them as they travel between home and office.

"There is no question that what we are doing and what IBM is doing will converge someday," Kate Purmal, CEO of U3, said.

IBM said three technology trends have recently made SoulPad feasible: larger, faster and cheaper portable storage devices; auto-configuring operating systems that can boot on unknown hardware without a separate installation phase; and the emergence of virtual machine technology on PC-class machines.

The SoulPad software uses 6GB of space--4GB for the auto-configuration operating system and 2GB for space needed to swap and store encrypted data.

Beyond that, the size of the drive depends on how much data the user wants to carry around, Caceres said. And while using a flash memory-based hard drive is feasible, IBM stuck with hard-disk drives to fully test the capacity of SoulPad.

IBM conducted its tests on a
60GB iPod photo
using Knoppix, a Linux software derivative, as an auto-configuration OS, VMware Workstation as the virtual machine monitor and an x86 PC as the encrypted virtual machine. That is where the SoulPad software partitions personal applications such as Microsoft Word or the Firefox Web browser, along with the guest operating system and personal data the user would like to carry around.

"We chose Knoppix because this flavor of Linux is good at booting on unknown PCs without asking a lot of questions," Caceres said. "In a product version, the user would be able to configure the SoulPad boot sequence so that the device knows what data and applications they want. At the moment, we do it by hand and it takes us a little longer to boot."

Shutting down the SoulPad device and walking away takes about 20 seconds. Coming back to the same PC after attaching the SoulPad to the PC takes about two minutes.

While traveling, Caceres said the user could attach the SoulPad to a lighter laptop and switch back to a more powerful laptop while not traveling. Similarly, an insurance worker could insert his or her SoulPad into a tablet PC for on-site appraisals, then into a desktop PC for other work.

I already take my computer "soul" around with me on a 128MB pen drive using Damn Small Linux (<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.damnsmalllinux.org" target="_newWindow">http://www.damnsmalllinux.org</a>). And because the operating system only uses 50MB, my Pen Drive has 80MB free for my data. Unlike the IBM solution, my pen drive doesn't need batteries and costs only $30 compared to $300 for a good iPod. At 6GB or so, this IBM idea is 100x larger than D S Linux!

Similarly based on Knoppix, D S Linux uses a virtual machine to run your Linux desktop as a window on Microsoft Windows PC's. This means you can take your pen drive to any internet cafe, and work securely without leaving a cookie or password on the shared PC. All sys admins should carry one!

The Linux distro includes Firefox, a PDF viewer, and the immensely useful SSH. The only downside is that the virtual machine is kinda slow when running Linux on Microsoft Windows PC's below 2GHz. If you like (and your BIOS permits it) you can boot into Linux - this runs MUCH FASTER, but internet cafes might not be so happy about it.

For more information about running Damn Small Linux on your pen drive, see <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://damnsmalllinux.org/faq.html" target="_newWindow">http://damnsmalllinux.org/faq.html</a>

Kevin,Thanks for the additional comments.This is all valuable information as companies and home users look at all of their options.

There does seems to be two camps in this debate:

laptops and desktops
vs.portable hard drives and "smart" handhelds

As my colleague Michael Kanellos wrote earlier this month:

The push behind the trend (of using mobile alternatives to laptops) comes from the confluence of several factors favorable to handhelds. First, the devices themselves and the data networks that carry traffic are far more sophisticated than they were several years ago. Corporate applications such as databases and customer relationship management (CRM) software can also be accessed through handhelds.

you can read the full text here:<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://news.com.com/Has+the+notebook-to-handheld+conversion+begun/2100-1005_3-5815979.html" target="_newWindow">http://news.com.com/Has+the+notebook-to-handheld+conversion+begun/2100-1005_3-5815979.html</a>

I already take my computer "soul" around with me on a 128MB pen drive using Damn Small Linux (<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.damnsmalllinux.org" target="_newWindow">http://www.damnsmalllinux.org</a>). And because the operating system only uses 50MB, my Pen Drive has 80MB free for my data. Unlike the IBM solution, my pen drive doesn't need batteries and costs only $30 compared to $300 for a good iPod. At 6GB or so, this IBM idea is 100x larger than D S Linux!

Similarly based on Knoppix, D S Linux uses a virtual machine to run your Linux desktop as a window on Microsoft Windows PC's. This means you can take your pen drive to any internet cafe, and work securely without leaving a cookie or password on the shared PC. All sys admins should carry one!

The Linux distro includes Firefox, a PDF viewer, and the immensely useful SSH. The only downside is that the virtual machine is kinda slow when running Linux on Microsoft Windows PC's below 2GHz. If you like (and your BIOS permits it) you can boot into Linux - this runs MUCH FASTER, but internet cafes might not be so happy about it.

For more information about running Damn Small Linux on your pen drive, see <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://damnsmalllinux.org/faq.html" target="_newWindow">http://damnsmalllinux.org/faq.html</a>

Kevin,Thanks for the additional comments.This is all valuable information as companies and home users look at all of their options.

There does seems to be two camps in this debate:

laptops and desktops
vs.portable hard drives and "smart" handhelds

As my colleague Michael Kanellos wrote earlier this month:

The push behind the trend (of using mobile alternatives to laptops) comes from the confluence of several factors favorable to handhelds. First, the devices themselves and the data networks that carry traffic are far more sophisticated than they were several years ago. Corporate applications such as databases and customer relationship management (CRM) software can also be accessed through handhelds.

you can read the full text here:<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://news.com.com/Has+the+notebook-to-handheld+conversion+begun/2100-1005_3-5815979.html" target="_newWindow">http://news.com.com/Has+the+notebook-to-handheld+conversion+begun/2100-1005_3-5815979.html</a>

OQO and FlipStart are towards that direction. Imagine consumer targetted "blade" versions. Where all you need is a compatible docking station for the monitor, keyboard and mouse. Looks similar to this body and soul thing...

But if I want to carry my PC around, I want it to be equally useful, docked or not, complete with communication capabilities like phone, web, TV and FM radio access. All that and maybe more the size of my palm ready to fit in my pocket.

OQO and FlipStart are towards that direction. Imagine consumer targetted "blade" versions. Where all you need is a compatible docking station for the monitor, keyboard and mouse. Looks similar to this body and soul thing...

But if I want to carry my PC around, I want it to be equally useful, docked or not, complete with communication capabilities like phone, web, TV and FM radio access. All that and maybe more the size of my palm ready to fit in my pocket.

I have been working on a full operating system since 2001 that
does all that and more within a CD or DVD. Any files over the limit,
you can just download your encrypted copy on the p2p network, or
use an iPod or whatever you have.I predict that many people would not have the 6GB of space for the
IBM system, as a typical iPod would be 90% full of music.Also, where's the support for macs and other machines?

I have been working on a full operating system since 2001 that
does all that and more within a CD or DVD. Any files over the limit,
you can just download your encrypted copy on the p2p network, or
use an iPod or whatever you have.I predict that many people would not have the 6GB of space for the
IBM system, as a typical iPod would be 90% full of music.Also, where's the support for macs and other machines?

If you require an ultra portable device that is Office compatible and has plenty of storage, could I suggest one of the clamshell Zaurus models. The most recent models include 4Gb HDD and as they are Linux based there are plenty of apps.

I have no association with Sharp or any Zaurus reseller. I have simply found since running pdaxrom on my C-860 I am able to run all the apps I need which has negated my need for a laptop.

If you require an ultra portable device that is Office compatible and has plenty of storage, could I suggest one of the clamshell Zaurus models. The most recent models include 4Gb HDD and as they are Linux based there are plenty of apps.

I have no association with Sharp or any Zaurus reseller. I have simply found since running pdaxrom on my C-860 I am able to run all the apps I need which has negated my need for a laptop.

FingerGear has already announced the Computer-On-a-Stick which has all of the above applications and more on a bootable USB Flash Drive.www.fingergear.com-Debian Linux OS-Open Office Suite including Microsoft Office compatible word processor, spreadsheet and powerpoint creator-latest Firefox browser-Evolution Email-Zip Compressor-PDF Creator-3D Vector Draw Utilityetc, etc.They are asking $149 for the 256MB model.

FingerGear has already announced the Computer-On-a-Stick which has all of the above applications and more on a bootable USB Flash Drive.www.fingergear.com-Debian Linux OS-Open Office Suite including Microsoft Office compatible word processor, spreadsheet and powerpoint creator-latest Firefox browser-Evolution Email-Zip Compressor-PDF Creator-3D Vector Draw Utilityetc, etc.They are asking $149 for the 256MB model.

Yes! another COS user. I thought I was the only one because the product is so new. Check out the Bio Edition of the Computer-On-a-Stick...www.fingergear.com/bio_computer_on_a_stick.php. Very cool stuff. If it came down to the under $100 level, I would buy more. -js

Yes! another COS user. I thought I was the only one because the product is so new. Check out the Bio Edition of the Computer-On-a-Stick...www.fingergear.com/bio_computer_on_a_stick.php. Very cool stuff. If it came down to the under $100 level, I would buy more. -js

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